SEEKING ANSWERS: Tom Coughlin said the pain of the Giants missing the playoffs this season is “almost indescribable,” as he continues to seek answers as to what happened to a once-promising season. Photo: AP

SEEKING ANSWERS: Tom Coughlin said the pain of the Giants missing the playoffs this season is “almost indescribable,” as he continues to seek answers as to what happened to a once-promising season. (AP)

It sounds as if Tom Coughlin could use a vacation in the Bahamas. But he won’t be joining Rex Ryan any time soon.

The Giants coach has been hard at work, not letting go of the disappointing 2012 season just yet. He has been hunkered down in the team facility “taking it all apart right now as a coaching staff, and hopefully we can provide some answers’’ as to why his team lost two of its last three games, finished 9-7 and failed to make the playoffs a year after winning the Super Bowl.

“I can’t even describe how it hurts … I don’t know what to do,” Coughlin said yesterday during an emotive 30-minute session on WFAN. “I’m walking around here like a crazy man. I am. I don’t know what to do with myself. We shouldn’t be doing this right now. The pain of it is almost indescribable.”

What Coughlin doesn’t think he should be doing is poring over the evidence of a season that produced wildly inconsistent play, why down the stretch in Atlanta and Baltimore “we didn’t fire a shot’’ as far as putting up a competitive effort in losses by a combined 67-14. All this caught Coughlin completely by surprise after the Giants at midseason were their customary 6-2.

“I’m glad I’m not a betting man because I would have lost everything,’’ Coughlin said.

Coughlin figured the Giants had everything set up the way they wanted it, 8-5 after 13 games, knowing two wins in the last three games would get his team into the playoffs. What followed was a 34-0 loss to the Falcons. Still, Coughlin figured his team would respond, knowing the Giants were guaranteed a spot in the postseason if they won their final two games. What followed was a 33-14 loss to the Ravens.

“When you have things in your grasp, and our team has developed a reputation for playing well under those circumstances … I think that’s what’s so frustrating for you and for everyone else who follows our team so closely,” Coughlin said. “It’s that, ‘OK, they’ve got the thing set, the table is set for the Giants, this is where they normally step up and play extremely well.’ ’’

It didn’t happen. Coughlin said it did cross his mind that the Giants might not be as hungry or motivated after winning Super Bowl XLVI but “I never thought it was going to be an issue with our team.’’ The results proved otherwise.

“For us, right now, to not be in the playoffs, to be the Super Bowl champion and not be in the playoffs, if that doesn’t bring you down to earth and create the kind of humility that comes along with getting your nose back to the grindstone, I don’t know what does,’’ Coughlin said.

What stunned the 66-year old coach more than anything was that he never saw it coming. He never imagined what he considered to be strong practice weeks would not translate to any sort of credible performance.

“My competitive juices were flowing so, I should have made sure everyone was [dragged] along with me,” Coughlin said. “But you have to remember this, a year ago, in those last six games, I knew exactly how our team would play. I knew exactly that we would play well. I didn’t know we were going to win all the time, but I knew we would play exceptionally well.”

The one key Coughlin identified for next season is for Hakeem Nicks to return to full health. “We need that desperately,’’ he said.

General manager Jerry Reese, also speaking on WFAN, said he will reach out to Michael Strahan to have a sit-down with Jason Pierre-Paul, hoping Strahan can clue Pierre-Paul in as to what it takes to be a marked man at defensive end. Reese reiterated he thinks the Giants aren’t far from once again being a strong Super Bowl contender, saying: “The team is going to look different, but we don’t have to blow the thing up here now.’’